1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to a support bracket for a steering gear tube assembly, and more specifically, to a one piece formed bracket of a steering gear tube assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Steering systems in motor vehicles typically comprise rack and pinion steering systems. The rack and pinion steering systems consist of a pinion shaft, pinion teeth, a rack including rack teeth, bearings, seals, and a housing. The housing has a hydraulic valve section and an extended rack section and houses the meshing of the pinion teeth and the rack teeth. The housing is commonly supported by one or more mounting brackets. The mounting brackets are coupled to the housing and are bolted to a vehicle frame or a unibody structure. Rubber grommets or bushings are used to dampen noise and vibrations from the road.
The mounting brackets are typically spot welded to or strapped about the housing. The welded mounting brackets include two or more stamped metal parts that are welded together to form a unified bracket. The process for manufacturing a mounting bracket may include multiple manufacturing operations such as stamping, forming, and welding operations to form the unified bracket.